To know about the artist
“Over the knowledge” or trains who dream to go out the rails
(Written by P.G.)
History and legend are rich of men who, in their own way, wanted to go “over the knowledge”,
from Icarus
to Dante’s Ulysses,
from Leonardo da Vinci
to Picasso …
Who of us, at least once in the life, has ever dreamed, as in the work of Maurizio d’ Agostini,
Oltre lo scibile
to fly out of our habitual and known patterns …? …
Why then, by what right, we may deny miniature trains to have a similar desire , dreaming of go out the rails known …? …
An example of this desire to escape in HO / OO scale is the “Battle Space Turbo Car” Triang,
who conceived in the 50s this strange freelance railway vehicle , really moved by rear propeller, which deviates significantly from the models of British locomotives of the time, elegant, but rigidly formal and staid.
This funny toy recalls the Schienenzeppelin
German 30s,
reproduced in HO scale by Maerklin, without accepting the stringent technological issues.
… .In fact Schienenzeppelin does discuss the technical, unlike the Battle Turbo Space does dream the children, and why not, even adults …
Also the monorail trains are detached from the ground abandoning the classic binary
in reality as in HO scale.
Most probably the first reproduction of a monorail in this scale dated back to 1955 and was commissioned by a group of US stores to Japanese HAJI.
The train articulated in sheet lithographed and battery-operated is circulating on an oval celluloid that rests in turn, through supports made of sheet metal bent,
on a rectangular cardboard reproducing a landscape populated of castles, flying discs and other
Much better known
is the
“Disneyland Monorail Allweg” Schuco
of the 60’s
while also in the GDR in the same years Piko conceived his fragile
“Einschienenbahn” , built in a material said Thermoset that ranks among plastic and bakelite.
However, if I have to give an image of a train “over the knowledge”,
my preference, both in the scale HO and in the reality, goes to Schwebebahn, the suspension railway in Wuppertal.
Commissioning in 1901, it uses the technique of Eugen Langen, has been completely restored a few years ago and still offers regular service.
In 1956 Richard Stube developed his freelance suspension railway in HO scale, which is based on that of Wuppertal.
When you have the pleasure to open a pack of Schwebebahn Stube, you have the impression of being in front to a Meccano’s box.
The assembly of the 200 pieces in the box shown here
takes time and patience, but the result is worth it !!
Tractor and trailer swaying forward scrolling suspended the trusses, proceed cautiously, like if they had fear of falling, leaving the overhead rail and back ground … ..
Engine and mechanics are of excellent quality, the operation is 12 V DC.
In Stube’s catalog you can find bus stops, stations, accessories, but unfortunately the company disappears in 1963, and in our day packs of these trains, which have become very rare, reach prices “over the knowledge” ….
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(@ March 30, 2015)